Breaking The Loop
by CommodoreOblivious
Summary: After the downfall of the witch, Glitch is still Glitch. He may not be able to remember things consciously, but Glitch's sleep is disturbed with memories. One-shot.


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-1Disclaimer!- I don't own Tin Man, well, I do own the DVD, but I don't own the idea or anything like that. Plus, I'm not making any money off of this piece of fiction.

Mornings were always the worst. As if the mumbling and nightmares weren't bad enough. 

He looked like a sleeping puppy, sometimes. Curled up in a ball, an arm thrown over his head so that the zipper was completely out of sight and his spiked curls were all that one could see. He'd whimper and shift his legs, almost as if he were running. An incoherently mumbled word would escape and he'd curl up more tightly into himself. 

He usually slept a little ways away from the group, as if he knew he was going to be disruptive in his sleep. He was the first one to drop into sleep on most days, usually in mid-sentence. About an hour later, we would hear his little cries, muffled by his arm. It would make Raw nervous. He said he could feel the emotions the zipper-headed man was giving off, even from the few feet of distance between them. Cain would frown, but otherwise do his best to ignore it. It always tore at my heart. 

When Toto joined us, he was the first to do anything about it. He would curl up next to Glitch, head on his paws, as if to guard the man's sleep. Sometimes, it would quiet Glitch. Sometimes, he'd even slip his arm around the small dog and hold Toto close. If it weren't so heartbreaking, it would have been cute. 

There was rarely a night that he didn't sleep all the way through. He was locked into his nightmares while the moon reigned, but as soon as the suns shone over the horizon, he was unleashed. He'd cry out, sitting up with a false alertness in his eyes. It was sad the way he'd look at us, friends who had been traveling for days together, with not a trace of familiarity in his expression. 

It would all snap back, however, given a minute or two. The trust and friendship would leak back into his face and his bearing and he'd say, "Good morning!" It was as if the whole night hadn't happened. On the first morning that he'd found Toto with him, he'd asked innocently if the dog had felt cold during the night. He pat the dog on the head and scratched behind Toto's ears before launching into a faint memory of a childhood pet. 

We all smile at him, pretending the troubled night never happened. Knowing that it would only be repeated when the suns went down next. Ignoring the dark circles under his eyes.

Now, even after defeating the evil witch, Glitch's sleep is disturbed. We haven't found a way to return his brain to him yet. Cain says that the state has never had a case where a brain removal needed to be reversed. 

We don't allow him to sleep alone anymore. Not after that first day; when Glitch had woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't remember where he was. In his attempt to "escape" he'd injured quite a few of the palace guard before Cain found and restrained him. We moved him into a room with two beds and now we take turns spending the night with him. All of us, except Raw. Glitch lovingly refers to nights as "sleep-overs" now. He's very happy with the arrangement, if not with the waiting before he can have his brain back. 

Az spent the night last night. She feels guilty for his empty head, having been the one to order the removal. Even if it had been the witch controlling her. Glitch doesn't seem to mind. Az tells him stories from when we girls were children and he was still the adviser. She even tells him about some of the inventions he's famous for in the O.Z. He never tires of Az's stories. She links him to his past without the sorrowful looks Mother often gives him. 

It's my turn to "sleep-over" tonight. He's sleeping, quietly for now, hidden under a heavy quilt. His old coat is strewn across the bottom of the bed, where his feet should be. We haven't broken him of it yet. He's had that coat for so long and I have the feeling that it's been the only comfort he's had for years; the only think linking him to his past, the only thing to keep him warm on cold Ozian nights. 

I finger a small glass bottle with his name on it. It's one of the Ozian version of drugs; a sedative prescribed in case of a repeat performance of the first night. I'm glad they haven't been needed, so far. He shouldn't have to be sedated. He should have had his brain back by now. He should be living his normal life, like the rest of us are.

Everyone has fallen back into their lives after Mother took her thrown back from Az. Az and I have lessons everyday, preparing us to rule the O.Z.. Cain and his son live in the palace as part of the royal guard. There are still those who think that Az should have been punished for the crimes committed while she was under the witch's control. Raw has gone back to his home with the Viewers. I hear they welcomed him home as a hero when he returned with all the Viewers that the witch kept captive. Mother and Father are busy reorganizing the kingdom and getting the O.Z. back into order. Everyone, including my robot parents, have found their purpose and places in life. That is, except Glitch. 

Glitch spends some of his time being poked and prodded by doctors and scientists trying to find a way to get his brain back in his head. For a couple hours a day, he wanders through Ambrose's old quarters and laboratory. It helps him to remember some things if he sees something to jog his memory. I think it frustrates him more than anything. I know how it feels to be unable to remember. However, I can't imagine not ever being able to regain that lost memory. It's a wonder how he's dealt with it for so long. 

He shifts and mutters something. I get up from my bed and sit on my knees on his. If I lean forward, I can faintly hear what he's saying.

"…96...95...94..."

Oh no, I think. Not this dream. I still feel sick when I think about the memory Raw showed to us; Glitch strapped down to a table, pleading for the alchemist to stop. I don't want him to go through this again. Even if it's only a dream. Even if Glitch doesn't seem to remember it. 

"Glitch," I call to him, softly. "Glitch, you gotta wake up, buddy."

He groans a little and the blanket moves. 

"C'mon, Glitch." My hand finds his shoulder and I shake him a little.

He cries out, suddenly, and grabs my arm from under the blanket. "No!"

He blinks at me and I can see the fight for remembrance in his eyes. "Who are- Oh! DG! What's the matter?" He rubs his eyes and pushes a stray spike out of his eyes. He's wearing his red and black striped shirt -clean now- and a pair of black sleep pants. He loves that ridiculous shirt. I'll have to remember to get him a new one soon. Perhaps then he'll throw the old one away. 

"It's nothing. You were just having a bad dream."

"Really? Well a bad dream is better than no dream, huh?" He laughs like he does when he knows his joke isn't funny. I smile sadly at him. I'd really rather he didn't dream. 

"Are you okay, Deej? You don't look so hot."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay, Glitch. Why don't you try getting back to sleep now?"

He grins and it's interrupted by a wide yawn. "Yeah, okay." He lays down again and I cover him with the quilt, feeling vaguely maternal. I'm in the process of moving over to my bed when he calls to me, "Hey, Deej?"

I stop and look down at him, peeking out from under the blanket as he is. He's so child-like sometimes; so cute, so naïve. "Hmm?"

"Will- Will- Will- Will," he breaks himself out of the loop he'd been caught in, "Will you stay with me? I- I - I mean, just for a while. I know you need your sleep, but… I don't think I can fall asleep again on my own. Please?"

It was then that I realized that Glitch wasn't so ignorant of his nightmares as he liked to let us think. "Sure, Glitch."

I sit back down on his bed and smile down at him. He shuts his eyes and burrows a little further underneath the blanket. I put my hand on his back and rub lightly in small circles. He sighs and relaxes a little into the bed. On a sudden thought, I put a little bit of my magic into it, concentrating on calm, safe thoughts. 

I watch as he drifts into sleep. This time, he's uncurled himself and he breathes deeply with a small smile on his face. "Sleep well," I whisper as I get into my own bed. If he sleeps well tonight, it will only be a reprieve. There's got to be something we can do for him, something more permanent. We've got to find something to break this loop. 

A/N: This was my first Tin Man fan fiction, so, if you don't think I've got the characters down yet, well, I'm still practicing. Let me know if there's anything I can do to make it work better! 

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